SENY Meetup Recap Series: Getting Hired as a Sales Engineer

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I was given the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion for the meetup “Sales Engineer of New York" with some well known and respected sales engineer managers in NYC.  We shared our thoughts and stories around hiring sales engineers on our team.  Luckily one of the co-founders filmed the event and I went ahead and summarized some of the best advice given during the event.   I added a link to the full recording below if you want to watch the event.

Discussion #1: Preparing your Resume

  • What interests you in a resume?

    • Iddo Avneri, VP, Distinguished Engineer at Turbonomic: “If I had to write a resume today I would write, achieve x by y"

    • Sam Pena, Sr. Director at Pluralsight: “Beyond achievement, include what unique contribution you can add to the PreSales organization"

    • Owen McClave, Senior Manager Solutions Engineering at Salesforce: “Demonstrate why you will be great as an SE under my team"

    • Eric Glick, Senior Solutions Engineer at Slack: “SE is all about focusing on what problems you are solving in your current position and also the soft skills, for example, how you interface with customer whether it’s internal or external"

  • What can Sales Engineers looking for a job do to get your attention?

    • Eric Glick, Senior Solutions Engineer at Slack: “I looked up who the recruiter was at Slack and wrote a long email on why I love Slack.  This got me in the door."

    • Iddo Avneri, VP, Distinguished Engineer at Turbonomic: “Download the free trial of the company you are interested in.  The sales reps and SE will start reaching out to you.  Learn everything you can about the product and then when you interview for them, you will be better prepared."

Discussion #2: Preparing for your Interview

  • How should an SE prep for an interview? Day of Interview: Non Verbal Cues

    • Sam Pena, Sr. Director at Pluralsight: “Think about the solutions to problems you solved, what was different in how you came up with the solution.  What was so creative about it?"

    • Iddo Avneri, VP, Distinguished Engineer at Turbonomic: “Come prepared, come with examples, do your homework "

    • Eric Glick, Senior Solutions Engineer at Slack: “Look for cultural fit.  Am I going to fit into the ethos of the company"

Discussion #3: Negotiation / Comp

  • How should SEs be compensated?

    • Owen McClave, Senior Manager Solutions Engineering at Salesforce: “Look for comp plans that has some sort of team structure element to it."

    • Sam Pena, Sr. Director at Pluralsight: “If you are moving into sales engineering for the first time, you want your comp to be tied to a team of sales rep (as opposed to just one or two sales rep).  This will encourage collaboration among your peers."

  • Do you expect SEs to negotiate?

    • Iddo Avneri, VP, Distinguished Engineer at Turbonomic: “Yes, but we have limits to how much we can give for a comp plan"

    • Sam Pena, Sr. Director at Pluralsight: “When SE negotiates, I try to re-frame the discussion to view the total reward package being presented to the candidate (e.g. RSU/Options, Employee stock purchase plan, paid time off, etc)"

Above is some of the best advice I captured during the meetup.  What do you think?  Is there any advice you would give regarding the comp discussion?  

Be sure to watch the full video below!